As they say, the devil is in the details. I had built a nice hive. I had ordered bees, but I had no clue as to whether or not it was legal for me to keep a beehive in Kansas City where I live. Well, I'm stupid or the little quiet voice knows more than I do.
So it was back to the Internet to search for regulations. No matter where I looked there was a real dearth of information. A lot of information about bees, but none about laws. With persistence and good Google searches I was able to determine that in most municipalities there were no regulations about bees. There certainly no laws in Kansas City.
After more hours of searching I found that the KC Health Dept does have a form you can fill out and send in. There is no license fee. Apparently there had been some regulations on beekeeping in the past, but were repealed in 1995. Guess beekeeping isn't a heavily regulated industry! I filled out the form and sent it in. I had no bees, just good intentions. If that was all I had to do to be legal I thought it was pretty minimal. Not bad after my lack of planning.
OK, what about the Home Association. Well, to make a long story short, I am not in the Home Association. They forgot to put that part in the deed, so a number of homeowners in this subdivision are left out. Since the neighbors on either side are also not in the Home Association they have no one to complain to.
I debated a long time about asking them for their blessing on my impending beekeeping, but I thought better of it. Just like at work, it is often better to do and ask forgiveness than to beg for permission. I wouldn't know if the bees would bother them or not until I did it. So I kept my mouth shut. Since my bees wouldn't arrive for a few weeks I had time to think about strategy.
It was stressful thinking about having issues with neighbors. Being a mind watcher, I watched the the thoughts unfolding. Didn't the neighbors on one side have a Pit Bull? They didn't ask me if I would object before they brought it home. I wasn't consulted. Didn't that sort of give me permission to do my thing? I've read of more harm done by Pit Bulls than bees. I felt justified.
Overall, the legal thing nagged me, but the more I heard the more I searched, it was pretty obvious that beekeeping wasn't something cities cared much about. The worst that could happen was that someone would turn you in as a nuisance beekeeper. I don't think that would be criminal enough to get arrested. I rest my case.
So it was back to the Internet to search for regulations. No matter where I looked there was a real dearth of information. A lot of information about bees, but none about laws. With persistence and good Google searches I was able to determine that in most municipalities there were no regulations about bees. There certainly no laws in Kansas City.
After more hours of searching I found that the KC Health Dept does have a form you can fill out and send in. There is no license fee. Apparently there had been some regulations on beekeeping in the past, but were repealed in 1995. Guess beekeeping isn't a heavily regulated industry! I filled out the form and sent it in. I had no bees, just good intentions. If that was all I had to do to be legal I thought it was pretty minimal. Not bad after my lack of planning.
OK, what about the Home Association. Well, to make a long story short, I am not in the Home Association. They forgot to put that part in the deed, so a number of homeowners in this subdivision are left out. Since the neighbors on either side are also not in the Home Association they have no one to complain to.
I debated a long time about asking them for their blessing on my impending beekeeping, but I thought better of it. Just like at work, it is often better to do and ask forgiveness than to beg for permission. I wouldn't know if the bees would bother them or not until I did it. So I kept my mouth shut. Since my bees wouldn't arrive for a few weeks I had time to think about strategy.
It was stressful thinking about having issues with neighbors. Being a mind watcher, I watched the the thoughts unfolding. Didn't the neighbors on one side have a Pit Bull? They didn't ask me if I would object before they brought it home. I wasn't consulted. Didn't that sort of give me permission to do my thing? I've read of more harm done by Pit Bulls than bees. I felt justified.
Overall, the legal thing nagged me, but the more I heard the more I searched, it was pretty obvious that beekeeping wasn't something cities cared much about. The worst that could happen was that someone would turn you in as a nuisance beekeeper. I don't think that would be criminal enough to get arrested. I rest my case.
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